TWDWV: The Walking Dead With Vampires
by ToxicQuicksilver
Summary: So it'll mostly revolve around two OCs (one fangy, another witchy). They'll join our favorite group of survivors of the zombie apocalypse. Most of the cannon TVD characters won't make an appearance, only the species' and mentions of our dear Originals. There will be romance later on...Maybe. So this is the story of a world full of supernatural beings overrun by walkers.
1. Chapter 1

It was really no wonder that the world was coming to an end. Maybe it was the way it was ending. She would have never imagined the world being overthrown by some kind of undead beings. And she had thought only her kind was undead. As in, vampires.

Yes, those bloodsucking, inhumanely strong, durable, immortal beings. Not the kind that sparkled in the sunlight like those in Twilight. Those wouldn't even scare a child. No, their kind could change their facial features into the 'vampire' face. With every year they lived, they got stronger. They could compel people who weren't on vervain. They had to be invited into a house before entering. They could be burned in sunlight if they didn't wear a sunlight ring that was made by a witch out of a lapis lazuli stone. They could be killed by getting their head severed off their body, a stake into their heart or head, by a witch's powers, or their heart ripped out. Oh, and a werewolves' bite could kill them too.

And witches and werewolves also truly existed. The strongest of beings were the Originals. The first vampires, more than a millennia ago. But that had been before the world went to hell with the humans turning into cannibalistic killer-machines. Maybe not killer-machines, but they were the cause why vampires didn't have that much food anymore. They needed blood for a living, and with only a few humans still being alive, it was hard. Though nobody would think about vervain now. Not with the living dead chasing after them.

The humans didn't stand a chance against the 'zombies'. She labelled them as such, because she didn't have the imagination to find a better fitting term for them.

The vampires had built a refuge for the supernatural in New Orleans, with the Originals keeping the peace between the vampires, witches and werewolves. Yes, even werewolves. Though before the zombie apocalypse, they weren't allowed to take a step into the city.

She had thought it was safe. She had really hoped so. But nothing could stay that way.

The witches got into an argument with the vampires since most of the population consisted of the supernatural and only around a quarter were normal humans. Their uncompelled walking blood-bags. The witches thought it wasn't right of the vampires having an upper hand over the rest with the Originals ruling over them. And they tried getting the Originals' position in the safe city. She should've known when to pack her things, compel getting two humans with her and her witchy friend. But the hope in her made her blind to the fact that the Originals had already went to a safe place on an island, with some of their friends and most importantly, humans. They had compelled some people to take care of the city instead of them when they saved their asses from the zombies. It made her blood boil, but back then, nobody knew.

And when they found out, their whole system broke apart. The witches had tried to get the vampires out of the city, with the werewolves helping. But the vampires fought back, and when they were near the end of the whole issue, the witches and werewolves got them stuck in the city while they let the zombies in and got to safety.

Though, she found out on her own that while witches still could turn into zombies by being bitten or scratched, the vampires and werewolves couldn't. Which was the only advantage their species had. And even that wasn't much of an advantage with the zombies being everywhere in large numbers. They couldn't take humans to safety without risking their own skin being shredded into pieces.

At least her witchy friend had told her of what the witches had planned for them in the end. Making her quite furious. But she had reigned her anger at bay for the time and found a duffel bag, stuffed some clothes in it, a few water bottles, two bottles of some expensive Scotch and a reminder of when she was still human. Which was seven hundred years ago.

Then she took her witchy friend into an alley, thanked her and then had to promise her safety just to get her with her. Otherwise she'd have gone with other witches, and the werewolves. It didn't sit well with her. So she wanted to take the witch with her. And the tag team Cara and Jordan was created.

While the witch's powers couldn't really help them against the zombies, she still could blow up some of their heads. And Jordan really loved exploding heads, Cara realized. The witch didn't really help their situation since she still had to eat real food and drink water. While also staying out of zombie reach. They started going north, towards Atlanta where a sanctuary may still run. But the vampire wasn't too hopeful.

* * *

The two of them took a car and started driving towards it while trying to avoid cities and towns. It would be a death trap to go through places with a big population, because the threat would also increase. And Cara had to keep the witch alive, though she wasn't sure why she bothered. Except the witch giving her blood. Both of them knew that was the only good reason why Cara even tried.

While on the ride, they had to stop for Jordan to find some supplies, mainly water and maybe canned food or whatever the witch wanted.

Cara took their little stop to find some kind of weapons. Something that would put a small distance from the zombie and the two of them. She didn't really want guns or riffles because those would cause too much noise and more of those undead freaks would come towards them, so she was trying to find maybe a machete, an axe, or a sickle. She hoped that they'll run across an antique shop with some kind of weapon collection. Like a katana or its shorter version a wakizashi or even a tanto would help them.

She just wished they would've been near New Jersey where she had a container full of old things she once possessed, between all the things quite a few weapons. Even a whole collection of Japanese swords, from a nodachi to a tanto. Pity that she'd never get to wield those ever again, since the likelihood of reaching New Jersey without encountering big groups of zombies in the city. She'd been lucky that when the outbreak started, she'd been near New Orleans.

Shaking her head, she looked for weapons. But the only ones she came across were three rifles with some additional ammo, an aluminum baseball bat and a few knives. She even found a walking stick, but she threw it away with a frown. If they had to use the rifles, Jordan would have to spell a few silencing spells on them.

She remembered how her life had once been. Travelling the world, compelling people and living in luxury. She's had a nice and very long life. It was a lonely one, if she crossed out the times she had one night stands with some human men and the few friends she had made. She had been a lone wolf type of person, enjoying the quiet and peaceful life, until the outbreak started.

That's when she had to pause for a second of her life and think it over. She had at first thought that going on her own would be preferable since it wouldn't be as dangerous, but she had to dismiss that option since with the zombies around, she would've had nobody to feed on. Which was why she actually tried making friends with people back in New Orleans. Before she continued her train of thoughts a yell snapped her out of them.

"Cara!" she heard Jordan yell, making the vampire curse as she took the baseball bat and the knives with her, tucked into her belt. Using her vampire speed, she ran to where she heard Jordan's yell.

"That good for nothing witch…" she growled as she realized Jordan was stuck in a store with zombies stumbling in. There weren't many places for her to take cover since she was in the middle of the street, two cars on one side of it, and the few buildings standing a dozen feet away from each other. It was a pretty small town.

"Where the fuck are you!?" she yelled as she stood there, watching as the zombies stopped and started turning towards her. "And don't yell back because these freaks will start attacking you again!" Though the only thing that bothered her was that the flesh-eating freaks were now stumbling towards her, hungry growls and snarls sent her way as their misty eyes stared at her like she was the dessert. It was a look that had once only been found on vampires. The predatory species. Now everything turned into chew toys for these flesh-eating undead freaks. She really hated the world's humor in creating zombies. As if vampires has had it comfortable in the modern age.

Using her vampire hearing and other instincts she ran towards the zombies, bashing their heads in with the weapon she just found. Though she distanced herself from them and took a look around her just in case. While she was relatively safe, from not being able to turn into a zombie to her supernaturally enhanced senses, she still remained cautious, borderline paranoid.

"In a small restroom. Blocked the door." Jordan's words reached her ears and she sighed, relaxing her shoulders a bit. At least the damn witch was safe. Now she only had to kill the zombies that had gone after her witchy friend.

"I should really just turn her…" she murmured to herself as she took care of the zombies. The ones who still lied groaning on the ground got a knife through their skulls to end their undead lives. She looked around and counted twenty-one corpses on the street. The undead she just took out. Then she heightened her hearing and stepped towards the store to make sure there weren't any more zombies lingering inside the shop. After hearing nothing, she took a look inside and looked everywhere before calling for Jordan to get out of her hiding place.

She turned her icy stare to the witch and she frowned at the redhead. Jordan was a small woman in her late twenties, curly red locks reaching her small waist with a pair of pale blue eyes. Her skin was pale and freckled and easily burnt by the sun. She was around 5'1'' tall with a slim body but just enough curvy to balance with her small chest.

She was the total opposite to Cara. The vampire had been turned while she was twenty-eight years old and stayed that way ever since. While her body was still warm and had a heartbeat, it didn't age. Vampires' cells regenerated too quickly, which was why they stayed the age they were turned and healed very quickly. Their body was frozen in time, so to say.

If someone with cancer tried turning, the cancerous cells would spread even quicker and those cells don't need to regenerate like normal ones. That's why a human with cancer if turned only died quicker from cancer.

Cara was a tall, athletically built woman with long legs that made her look like an athlete with how toned they were. Her caramel brown hair was cut short and wavy, reaching only her collarbones, but that's how she preferred her hair to be. And her eyes were amber, matching her olive skin tone.

"I really hate how vulnerable you are, Jordrina," she told her in a flat tone and the witch's brows furrowed together as Jordan gave her an assessing look. That nickname she gave the witch never meant anything good. It was one of those situations where the two of them would start arguing and questioning each other's worth. It happened once before, just after they left New Orleans walls. Well, Cara flat out told her she couldn't just do nothing, leave the work to Cara and expect a friendly tone from the vampire.

Cara then fell to her knees, clutching her head with her hands, hopelessly trying to stop the pounding in her head that the witch was causing her with her powers. It was one of the reasons she hated the redheaded witch.

"You should really know better by now, bloodsucker. I'm giving you blood, so give me the respect I deserve. We have a deal, might I remind you. My blood for your hunger and your strength for my safety. Both of us stay alive that way. Or do you want to start sucking the black foul blood out of those undead fellows outside?" Jordan said with a low voice, trying to sound threatening as her powers wavered and Cara's head stopped pounding, leaving a slight headache behind.

Cara still clutched her head, leaving her head hanging and her hair masking the growing smirk on her lips as her vampire features came out. The witch was playing with fire now. The brunette knew Jordan wasn't a powerful witch. Only average. Enough to run out of magic by using it on a few zombies to blow their heads at the same time and then using her magic to blow them a few feet away. Then she was out like blowing a candle out.

"That's what I thought, your silence speaks volumes. At least some vampires know their place," she could hear Jordan's smirk and the superiority in her tone.

It really grated on her nerves and she forced her vampire face away, her red, blood-shot sclera turning white while the veins around her eyes also slowly disappeared. Vampires were a proud species, as were witches, but vampires were an abnormality, while witches were nature's servants. But if one were to call them a servant in these days, they'd try exploding your head. But it was a witch that had created the very first vampires. The Original Witch, the mother of the Original Vampires and their half-brother Niklaus, the Original Hybrid, as he was half vampire and half werewolf, making him the strongest being on Earth. But Cara hoped the zombies have shredded him to microscopic pieces, the big bad wolf fled once he had the chance, leaving the rest of their species' behind.

Selfish. But he took his family with him to safety. Leaving the city he helped to build a long time ago, behind in his wake. She knew she'd have probably done the same if she knew it was helpless. But she hadn't seen it as that until the main leaders left the safe haven.

"Let's continue on our way," Jordan growled as she saw Cara's still form, still crouched on the ground. It was her own fault that she turned her back to the fuming vampire. Cara's head snapped up and she quickly stood up, grabbing the back of Jordan's neck and slamming the witch into the nearest shelf, pinning the redhead down while using little strength.

"First of all, Jordan, more zombies will be coming this way by how much ruckus we have caused earlier. Not just from your little outburst a moment ago. Secondly, it's getting late and you're exhausted. We're both exhausted. Just because I'm a strong vampire doesn't mean I can go without rest indefinitely long. Thirdly, our car's fuel is low, so we better find another car to drive with or try getting some fuel from another car. So, I'd recommend we stay in this town for the night, place the supplies and the weapons I found in the car and continue our trip." Cara growled lowly with a sickly smooth voice, pushing the woman's face into the shelf with a little more strength applied, making the witch whimper.

"And lastly, I'm hungry. The little few gulps you gave me of your blood can't satisfy me for this long without reducing my strength and senses. So, I'd please you to give me some more of your blood, Jordan."

"G-Get off!" the witch stuttered out with an edge to it that was caused by fear. And Cara was pleased to hear the witch's heartbeat quicker than usual. Quicker than when zombies were around the witch.

Letting go of Jordan, she took a few steps away from the redhead. She knew Jordan would use her magic on her again for how she threatened her, but she couldn't care less. She was satisfied to have caused the witch fear, as sick as it sounded. Vampires were predators, and predators liked their prey shuddering in fear as it couldn't escape.

Cara once again fell to her knees and groaned from the pain, but it quickly passed. It seemed Jordan really was tired. As was Cara, but she was vampire out of the two of them. Meaning she would find them a safe place for the night, because the car wasn't an option now. She could barely hear the shuffling sound the zombies made when moving from a distance. Standing up, she dusted herself off indignantly and gave Jordan a glare.

"I know it was 'necessary' for you to inflict pain on me, but the zombies are on their way here. So you took away time we could use," Cara stated while throwing a fiery look at the small redhead whose eyes widened at what she said. "Now get on my back, so we're outta here."

And that the witch did, with her own duffel bag filled with food and something to drink from what Cara heard was inside.

They'd also have to get some medicine, if the witch ever got ill. Though Cara would be damned to let that idiot get ill. Then the witch would be ultimately useless and only a hindrance.

Cara quickly shot out of the shop and towards the opposite direction than where she heard the zombies coming. Her eyes had seen a small house a bit farther down the road with a fairly big balcony. While they landed on the balcony safely, she had let go of the aluminum baseball bat while running down the road, avoiding two stray zombies.

"Dammit," she snarled as she placed Jordan down and looking back to find where she lost it. The only good weapon she actually found and she lost it. Really f-ing great.

"What is it?" the witch asked and her blazing eyes turned to her, making Jordan flinch back at the intensity in those amber eyes.

"Nothing," she gritted out before sighing. She'd get it tomorrow, and the riffles plus the ammo too. "I'll see if there are zombies in the house, because I really don't plan on resting on a balcony." With that she focused to hear any shuffling inside the house. But there was none. She opened the balcony's door and slowly stepped inside, a grin spreading across her features. After the zombie apocalypse started, vampires were able to enter houses without being invited in. But only if the owners were dead, or infected. Because if they were zombies, they were dead, meaning she got access to the house.


	2. Chapter 2

_"What is it?" the witch asked and her blazing eyes turned to her, making Jordan flinch back at the intensity in those amber eyes._

 _"Nothing," she gritted out before sighing. She'd get it tomorrow, and the riffles plus the ammo too. "I'll see if there are zombies in the house, because I really don't plan on resting on a balcony." With that she focused to hear any shuffling inside the house. But there was none. She opened the balcony's door and slowly stepped inside, a grin spreading across her features. After the zombie apocalypse started, vampires were able to enter houses without being invited in. But only if the owners were dead, or infected. Because if they were zombies, they were dead, meaning she got access to the house._

* * *

"Come on, follow." Cara called to Jordan after entering the house. She felt a shiver going down her spine and her senses tickled. She walked through the kid's bedroom they've entered and opened the door which led into a hallway and a small staircase by the end of it. The only sources of light were the opened door of the bedroom, a window by the staircase, and one at the other end, behind her back.

She opened every door she came across and found two bathrooms and another bedroom before she reached the stairs. Both of them didn't make a sound, except what was necessary. Like opening a squeaky door. When the two reached the staircase, Cara got the feeling they weren't alone in the house, but she didn't hear even one heartbeat except her own and Jordan's. And there was no shuffling or groaning of a zombie.

Slowly descending the stairs with Jordan following behind, they came into the entry with the door safely shut and blocked by a big drawer. She turned and nodded to Jordan. It was relatively safe for them. But she couldn't help but wonder as she watched Jordan go explore on her own the ground floor of the house. Though she turned back just in time to see a figure slowly stumble out of an opened door by the front door.

Cursing, she grabbed the longer knife and lunged at it, sinking the blade into its eye-socket while grimacing as the foul blood slightly got onto her face. It wasn't even real blood anymore. It was just the corpse's rotten substance. She wasn't going to call it blood.

She let the body fall to the ground with a small thud and quickly sensed another body lunging for her from behind. The dripping and the thud had covered the soft sounds the other zombie behind her had made. Turning, she nailed the zombie with the knife directly through one side of its head to the other. She could see the tip of the knife through the long dirtied strands of blonde hair. Her eyes softened as she realized it was still just a kid. A girl around twelve. As she had to pull the knife out, it was a bit tricky, but she managed without getting the rotten substance all over her.

Then she went after Jordan with her supernatural speed as she heard shuffling nearing the witch's heartbeat.

Jordan was crouching by a cabinet, looking through in hopes of finding food, even if she had a full duffel bag of it. Which meant she didn't see the zombie slowly nearing her from behind and Cara reached them just in time to dig the knife into the zombie's skull as it grabbed Jordan's hair tightly.

"Shh!" Cara growled as she heard how Jordan's mouth opened, but quickly closed as the redhead turned so fast towards Cara and the now dead zombie. "I think this was the last one," she told the witch with a nod to the corpse by their feet before reaching out and helping the shocked Jordan back up.

"There were more?" Jordan asked with a high pitched voice and Cara once more shushed her.

"Do you want to lead the zombies that are outside directly here?" she growled quietly at the witch in warning and then sighed. "All in all, this one was the third. Probably the last since this house is made for a small family. I got attacked by the mother, then by the kid. That's the father, so I guess there's nobody else. Except maybe a chewed on corpse of a dog or something."

"Why'd there be a dog?" Jordan asked, incredulous.

"It fits. Girl was an only child by the looks of it," she pointed at a picture hanging on the fridge. The picture had three persons in it, the three she just killed. "The perfect American family, though with only one kid. So she got spoiled, maybe she got a puppy for her birthday."

"You're really bizarre," the witch finally stated with a sour expression. Cara lifted an eyebrow at the look, but kept quiet. She only knew Jordan from crossing ways with her a few times in New Orleans and they've liked each other fairly well by the small talks in which they've engaged. It was just enough for Jordan to inform Cara what would happen because of guilt, and both thought it was better to keep the other close.

But both of them only stuck together to stay alive. Jordan had known sticking with Cara would be better in the long run than going with a few other witches and werewolves in a group. Vampires had better senses than werewolves and those'd still turn every full moon, making them more of a threat. So a vampire was the safer bet, because they'd need a source of fresh blood and would have to keep the walking blood-bag alive.

Though they quickly realized their personalities clashed in situations. Cara didn't like to help out every second Jordan needed help, which was always when the vampire let the redhead go on her own. And she couldn't fight with the witch right behind her. Cara was cautious, a bit on the quiet side with strangers, otherwise she could be friendly and mischievous, with a twisted sense of humor and quite sly. But she hated helpless people that needed help and guidance for everything.

She was a proud vampire, preferring being alone, but she needed blood. That's why she had Jordan. That was the only reason she actually kept the witch by her side. Though she couldn't deny that having such a companion with her wasn't interesting.

Jordan was fairly friendly and outgoing by the looks of it in New Orleans. They've ordered the same drink in a bar and started talking with another. Jordan had come across as level-headed and pleasant, also quite confident as she held her head high and Cara had liked that spark in the witch. But she found out at the beginning of their journey that the witch was weak, had a superiority complex, witches being fairly better than vampires in her mindset, mouthed back when it wasn't the time nor place, got herself in trouble far too many times without knowing how to defend herself.

She only wished to come across someone who was human and could be compelled. Because vampires couldn't compel witches nor triggered werewolves. Triggered, as in after they killed someone, which would trigger their werewolf curse. A werewolf only started turning every full moon after they killed someone, accidentally or not. It didn't matter. And with werewolves' fiery tempers, they activated the curse no matter what.

"They were human once," the witch spoke up quietly as her eyes lingered on the photo. Cara turned to look at her from the corner of her eye with a lifted eyebrow. She had been human too, but her paths crossed with a vampire. Unfortunately or fortunately, she didn't know what he was until he confessed after they got together. He had wanted to live together with her an immortal life, which she didn't wish for, but still got turned by him. She had hated him for what he had done and her humanity switch turned off with the enhanced feelings vampires had, making her rip his heart out and slaughter every person that had been attending a nearby dinner party.

She had been turned against her will, but she felt grateful for living such a long life. Even if the state of the world now wasn't ideal and there weren't many reasons to still live for.

"I get it that as a vampire you don't value humans as much as you should, since they're what keeps you alive, but they're important. They had feelings and it was hard for them when the outbreak started, for sure. You don't know how hard it is to keep your family alive in terrible conditions."

Jordan's words angered her a bit. But she wasn't going to show it. Yes, she didn't know how it was to have a family and be the one to take care of it when everything or everyone was against them and she wasn't going to try to understand it. She just took note of how Jordan seemed to know of what she was talking about.

"I guess that has to do with you being from New Orleans. The vampires ruled it and Marcel had all of you under control before the Mikaelsons came. He was threatening your family from what I'm getting?" She hadn't really thought through how her words would sound to Jordan, but from the pain in her head, she perceived her words weren't taken well. At all.

"Shut up. You're not 'getting' anything. He killed my mother and sister…And only because his orders were absurd! As witches we have a duty to nature and-" Jordan took a shuddered breath and calmed her raging feelings. Cara didn't know anything. She was just a damn vampire that was only alive because of her. And she never doubted that vampires were ungrateful creatures. It was in their nature, as they had been created as the predatory species.

"I apologize. I know my words aggravated and most definitely hurt you. But do understand that I don't care about the past, because in the world we are now, it's crucial to survive and the past doesn't matter as such. It won't help you survive if you cower and swim in memories like you do. The world is harsh and heartless. Literally and metaphorically. You can't wield your past as a weapon like this. It only hardens you for what still awaits you. Don't think I have learnt all things the nice way in the several hundreds of years I've lived. So stop pitying yourself. And the family that lived in this house," she said coldly as she shakily stood up and gave the dead father a glance before continuing.

"They tried their hardest to survive without facing the outside world. But it wasn't enough. They didn't try going out and risking themselves to continue living. So they died. Then they came back as zombies. But they died together at least. And they're in the afterlife. You'll join your family on the Other Side when the time comes. But it's your choice when that is. Or at least partly. The rest is up to destiny or whatever. Fate. God. The damn universe. Whatever you believe in," she finished with a sigh. The headache she has had earlier was now a migraine. Just because Jordan couldn't handle her feelings.

She glared at the look Jordan was giving her. It was full of astonishment, sadness, anger, but also understanding. And there may have been a flash of acceptance inside her blue eyes, but Cara didn't really care.

Or maybe she did. In a twisted kind of way.

While she didn't like the witch, probably even strongly disliked the redhead, she still put up with the girl's attitude.

"And we won't be finding any food in the house. They died from starvation and came back as zombies. So I guess maybe it's in the blood already as I haven't seen any scratch or bite marks…" Cara spoke up again and walked to the corpse and crouched by it. "No marks." As she had observed earlier.

"But that's not possible…" Jordan murmured, coming to stand behind the crouching vampire. "That'd mean everyone is infected. But they only turn into zombies after they die. Bitten or not. How did this even happen?" the witch said with an exhausted voice.

Sighing, Cara stood up and shook her head at Jordan. "The zombie apocalypse?" she asked and watched as Jordan nodded tiredly. "I don't know. Maybe the humans discovered something and it leaked out of a lab. It wouldn't be the first time they discover something dangerous and they couldn't handle it," she said with a frown before she saw Jordan glaring at her.

Raising her hands in a manner that said she didn't mean any harm, she stared back at Jordan. "Well, the other theory I have would make you blow up on me again."

"Now, what'd that be?" the witch said, her head raised high as she crossed her arms.

"The witches created some spell-" she was cut off by Jordan causing her head spinning from pain again. Though it didn't even shake her up. It only made the migraine worse. It wasn't nearly as painful as the former attacks. It was meant more of as a warning.

"That's ridiculous!" she quieted her voice and glared at Cara who had given her a look of warning after she rose her voice against her. "But it is ridiculous. Why would any witch want to make everyone mindless zombies? And we wouldn't be even let to come halfway creating such a spell. The ghosts from the Other Side would kill any witch who would dare try to toy with nature on such a scale."

"Well, the Original Witch toyed with it too. She created vampires. So I wouldn't put it past a seriously delusional witch to try something like creating zombies. But I do agree it's nonsensical. It doesn't make sense that a witch would create zombies while knowing what she was doing. But let's say the witch is a bad one and lost her loved ones, maybe her lover, and wanted him back. Or someone she had wanted as a lover, but he refused her love. She knew she was powerful enough to bring him back, so why not try making him her marionette?" Cara continued her theory and could see when Jordan paused, thinking about it. Then came the expression when it dawned on her like a ton of bricks thrown in her face. "And ta-da. A mindless resurrected human. Cue the start of a zombie apocalypse."

"But the ghosts would've stopped it," Jordan slowly murmured, but Cara could see the doubt in her eyes and hear it distinctly in her tone. The vampire knew Jordan wasn't taking it well. The girl hadn't faced many problems with such a threat. And Cara knew the redhead was overwhelmed with the information.

"Come on, let's stop our musings. It's for the better that we let our theories rest. We don't know where it broke out, it could've come overseas with someone that came here for vacation, but had gotten in contact with an infected without knowing. Or it could've started in a small town such as the one we're in. We won't be able to find out. As much as I want my own questions answered," she spoke up again and Jordan only nodded, looking thoughtful.

"We still have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Jordan only groaned with a spark of fear entering her eyes. Neither of them knew what the next day could hold in store for them. Jordan even thought of staying in the house for as long as they had food near them. But she knew that Cara wouldn't let them rot in a safe house if they could find other survivors.

"Oh and Jordan…" the witch looked up and the vampire's expression showed sheepishness. "I'm kinda hungry…"

The witch, annoyed as she was, brought the vampire to her knees again by using her magic. As far as she knew, the vampire would get her blood when she deserved it. Though she had to admit, she did deserve a supply of blood. At least some more gulps. Sighing, she rolled up her left sleeve and pushed her forearm towards Cara, releasing the hold she had on the vampire with magic. The brunette was quickly back on her feet, taking slow steps towards the witch with a dark look that made the witch nervous. She had angered the bloodsucking woman, but she knew fearing for her life wouldn't do much. She was still the only source of blood nearby, which was reason enough to keep her alive for Cara.

Cara didn't take it well as the witch brought pain upon her once again, but as it stopped, she couldn't help but rise and take threatening steps towards her witchy friend. As soon as she realized the redhead was waiting for her to take her forearm to feed on her, she crossed the small distance between them with vampire speed, grabbing the outstretched forearm with hunger and sinking her fangs into the tender flesh.

She almost moaned from the taste of blood on her tongue and as she gulped some more of the metallic tasting liquor. How she missed the times she only had to find someone to compel to take a bite of them. But it would have to do, she thought angrily for not having all the blood she wanted. Jordan's blood was a bit bitterer than she was used to, but delicious nonetheless. Almost losing her control, she stopped herself from sucking Jordan dry and lost her grip on the forearm.

Taking a small step from the witch, she bit into her own wrist and pressed it to Jordan's mouth, letting the witch take small gulps of her vampire blood to heal the bite on the redhead. As the bite healed up, she retracted her wrist from Jordan and watched as the wound quickly healed on its own from her blood's effect.

A vampire's blood was able to heal anyone and most injuries, and it left their system in twenty-four hours. If, by chance, you died while the blood was still in your system, you turn into a vampire. At least one that is in transition. Then you have twenty-four hours to feed on a human's blood, otherwise you die from the injuries that caused your initial death. While someone in transition wasn't on par with a real vampire, they still had more strength than a human.


	3. Chapter 3

Previously:

 _She almost moaned from the taste of blood on her tongue and as she gulped some more of the metallic tasting liquor. How she missed the times she only had to find someone to compel to take a bite of them. But it would have to do, she thought angrily for not having all the blood she wanted. Jordan's blood was a bit bitterer than she was used to, but delicious nonetheless. Almost losing her control, she stopped herself from sucking Jordan dry and lost her grip on the forearm._

 _Taking a small step from the witch, she bit into her own wrist and pressed it to Jordan's mouth, letting the witch take small gulps of her vampire blood to heal the bite on the redhead. As the bite healed up, she retracted her wrist from Jordan and watched as the wound quickly healed on its own from her blood's effect._

 _A vampire's blood was able to heal anyone and most injuries, and it left their system in twenty-four hours. If, by chance, you died while the blood was still in your system, you turn into a vampire. At least one that is in transition. Then you have twenty-four hours to feed on a human's blood, otherwise you die from the injuries that caused your initial death. While someone in transition wasn't on par with a real vampire, they still had more strength than a human._

* * *

The next day they didn't find any zombies on the street or even in range of Cara's enhanced hearing. Though the vampire then decided to rest for another day. They both weren't used to slaying walking corpses, mindless ones, as the true ones would have to be vampires. And Cara could see the fatigue in Jordan. So they'd fully recover and continue their journey after that. A weak witch would only be more of a liability than she already was.

"It's not good," Cara said as her gut feeling told her the day they were getting ready to leave.

Jordan gave her a questioning stare as they took a grocery cart to the car with the most fuel inside it. It wasn't a big car, but it had enough space for four people and luggage. They stuffed as much groceries inside the trunk as they could. Both of them doubted they'd really need it for the rest of the ride to Atlanta, but maybe they'll meet survivors.

Cara really hoped they would. But she had a sinking feeling that the humans' personalities might have changed after the outbreak. She knew how people changed when under pressure and stress, after a traumatic event.

And not everyone was good to begin with.

That's why jails and the police existed. Even vampires were bad. Like rippers, vampires who couldn't accept hurting people and subconsciously turning their humanity switch off, making them rather unpredictable. But she doubted those would have survived this long without getting their bearings back together.

Her amber eyes glanced at Jordan and she almost let out a sigh. The witch had more hope in humans than she had. Both of them knew it. But what Cara suspected would make Jordan explode again, if brought up in a discussion. The two of them have been lucky enough to come across food and a relatively safe place for a quick rest.

That didn't mean they would continue having luck. They could be robbed by other survivors, tied up and left behind for the zombies to chew at. Catastrophes brought out the good and bad in people. Her tolerance for people increased, which was good. But she turned even more cautious, though that wasn't necessary a bad thing. She was a good judge of character…She once more glanced at Jordan and she kept the chuckle at bay that had wanted to escape her. Maybe she wasn't always the best judge, but she was keen, cautious, and trusted her gut feeling. _That_ had always kept her alive.

"Hey. Earth to Cara," she heard Jordan saying and she turned her gaze onto the annoyed witch. "Don't space out. The zombies could come at any moment. We should go as quickly as possible," for once she agreed with Jordan.

"Yes. Just let me pick up something," she said back and the witch gave her a ticked-off stare. "I found three rifles yesterday. And additional ammo. While it may not be the best way to get rid of the zombies, it's better than nothing. And," she took off two of the knives she had also found. "Take these two. For emergencies if a few get to close. Fighting off dozens of them with just two knives won't help you in any way, but we will find something more practical."

"That's the closest you came to caring for my safety," Jordan joked and Cara smirked while giving her a dramatic once-over before scoffing. She could see Jordan knew she was joking.

"Don't get used to it. It's for when I'm not in range to come to your aid immediately. We had luck up till now. We came across food, a place to crash for rest and no zombies nearby. Our luck is going to run out at any moment. So we better be prepared." At that she watched Jordan gulp nervously.

"W-We'll manage," she said weakly and Cara gave her the first real smile. Trying to reassure her. She almost started wondering why she tried to reassure the witch.

"There's no doubt about that," if only either of them believed it.

* * *

When the two had everything they needed in the car, including the riffles and ammo, they were on their way towards Atlanta.

"But do you really think the sanctuary is still zombie-free?" Jordan asked bluntly after thinking about it in the silence that was inside the car. Cara hasn't said anything after their small discussion before taking off and it bothered the witch. Something was on the vampire's mind and it could be nothing good. Though that didn't mean she thought Cara was up to going on a killing spree.

But it was just that the vampire was overly quiet only when she was thinking over something complicated, something that would threaten their safety. And usually those complicated thoughts had meaning. She could tell when Cara was trying to get a point across to her, which she did with examples she knew Jordan would understand. Or if she was thinking about situations they might face in the near future. And her speculations were usually correct, as were her plans to get through the problem.

"What?" Cara asked. "Sorry. Repeat that, I haven't really listened."

Rolling her eyes before gulping at what she had been thinking, she repeated her earlier question. The witch watched as Cara's eyes snapped to her, big as plates and she realized the vampire hadn't thought about what she just asked.

She has only thought about finding it and being safe there.

Which wasn't any different than what Jordan had thought of them staying at the house they've rested in for a longer duration. She realized they had the same goal. To find somewhere safe to stay. But they pictured it differently. They wanted to hold onto hope, even if it was pointless.

"I-I…" the vampire seemed speechless. Jordan would've smirked, if the topic wasn't as serious as it sadly was. "I hadn't thought about it actually. I wanted to find a safe place where there are some more people than just the two of us. It would've brought some kind of stability back to our lives that we currently don't have anymore."

"We could've stayed in that town for some more," Jordan piped up and Cara sent her a glare before continuing to focus on the road.

"No. I had a bad feeling about that. While I would've liked to stay there too, my gut feeling told me that we should pack up as quickly as possible and get away from there. And trust my gut feeling, even if you don't trust me. It kept me alive more times than I would admit I got in trouble," she told Jordan truthfully.

"But what do you think happened with that safe sanctuary?" the witch asked quietly. Neither liked how much sense it made if it was over-run with zombies.

"There's a sliver of hope it's still not destroyed. The government could've just tricked people in going to a certain place to get rid of them. To keep the survivors safe. Or at least the government's asses safe. The Originals left without us noticing," Cara almost cursed at how bitter she sounded when mentioning the ones she had once held in high regards, at least for a short amount of time. But there was truth behind her words. "Less people, less zombies."

"Makes sense…"

Cara only nodded. So they were driving towards Atlanta for next to nothing. "Should we change course or keep Atlanta as our current hope?" she didn't know why she was asking the witch. Maybe just to get one less burden off her shoulders.

"We're more than halfway there. I'd rather we continue, but avoid the city and more populated areas as we did before." Jordan's words made her shoulders relax just the smallest. She was starting to actually trust Jordan in making decisions for them. Maybe she was just getting delusional and ready to kill herself. Because there really wasn't much to live for now. She could die being killed by zombies just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or for a person's safety. But she was too selfish to give up her own life for someone else's.

"Makes sense," she repeated Jordan's earlier words while smirking as the witch's lips tugged the slightest bit of upwards.

"And about the camp…There's the possibility that it ended up like New Orleans. Maybe not with all the supernatural species' drama, but close enough. And Jordan," the vampire stated and said witch turned to receive a glare she wasn't sure the causes of. She only nodded, signaling she was listening. "Don't give me a headache for this, because I know you perceive humans as innocent. But not everyone can be good." Cue the witch started glaring.

"I didn't say they were all innocent," she said strongly and Cara nodded while staring at the road in front of them. It made Jordan wonder what was going on in the vampire's head. Probably theories about humans trying to kill them and all the many causes for it.

"But you aren't threatened by them. You only perceive the zombies as the only thing that could harm us. Now think about it. Hard. If you had to survive and had a group to take care of and which you cared for a great deal, and there was another group like that, but not quite the same. The groups wouldn't have the same ideals and could be even made of criminals that got out of jail in this chaos filled world. You knew your group was in danger and the other group wanted your territory for which you fought for very hard and risked your lives to keep your own safe. They wanted the food you found and carried for god known how long. And you knew they'd go over dead bodies for it. What would you do when you realized they were obviously a danger to you and the ones you care for?"

Jordan started to understand the point Cara was trying to get across. And breathlessly, she answered what she knew anyone else would've. "Get rid of the danger."

"Yes…So you do realize now that people won't take in the two of us with wide open arms? Or if they did, without any ulterior intentions?"

Jordan kept the fear she felt as hidden as always. Cara always, truly always, made her think hard and clear. And always made her comprehend what she meant. The undead were dangerous, yes. Though they knew how to deal with them by now. But knowing that the living were a whole lot more dangerous made her think that there was no hope. They'd die anyway. By zombies, or by survivors of this apocalypse.

Shakily, she turned to give Cara the answer she already knew from the start. "Yes…"

Cara almost cursed out loudly as she heard the desperateness inside Jordan's tone. The witch didn't know how to properly defend herself, at least without using magic. Because they knew her magic reserves weren't big. And while they had riffles and knives and a damn baseball bat with them, they'll run out of bullets. They won't be able to defend themselves with just knives. And the bat won't keep them both safe then. Jordan finally realized, and Cara also shoved the fact that both the living and the zombies will try killing them right into Jordan's face.

"Jordan. Don't give into hopelessness, desperateness. While I don't really like you because of obvious reasons, and you know that, believe me that I'll protect you. I did promise. And not just because I need your blood to be up and about, but you're the only person left for me now. I won't say that I care about you, because I'd be slightly lying. I care about your safety, and to an extent, for your feelings. Which might be translated that I care, but I don't in the sense that you're all I've got."

Cara almost face-palmed. Those weren't really reassuring words, nor actually kind ones. It had been a while since she had to take care of someone. And Jordan was on the verge of hysterics because she had given her the impression that they'd die if they crossed ways with either the living or dead, or even both.

What she didn't expect was for Jordan to start laughing over what she said. It made her stare at the laughing witch, thinking she finally lost it. But her eyes quickly went onto the road again. She wouldn't be the one killing them from having taken her eyes off the road in an unfortunate moment.

Or at least killing Jordan. As a vampire, she couldn't just simply die because of a car crash. There wasn't even any wood around for a piece to pierce her head or heart.

"You're hilarious," stated Jordan after calming down. But she still had the urge to laugh.

Maybe it had been Cara's helpless expression at realizing that she didn't know how to handle a sad, borderline depressed witch like her. Or maybe it was how Cara denied caring for her, but only telling Jordan that she did care. But to an extent. Jordan gathered as much. As long as it didn't threaten Cara's own life, she'd go to many lengths to keep her safe. And it was actually adorable how Cara couldn't seem to shut up as she thought her words wouldn't calm her down.

"I really, really, dislike you," muttered Cara with a pout that wasn't immediately visible. Jordan only grinned. And at that, the vampire's mind could finally take a rest. She didn't have to worry about Jordan getting herself killed from thinking it was hopeless to keep living.

Their next short stop was in another small town. A bit bigger than the last, but Jordan only needed to pee and Cara would try finding more weapons. The ones they had would be useless after some time.

It was the second town after the one where they've stopped for a rest. The first one they came across had been full of those zombies, more than all the ones she came across in the town before. And they've quickly made their way through it, hitting the ones in the way without Cara even blinking in remorse. They were quite past remorse, she was actually starting to find them ridiculous.

"Get into that house," she pointed at a very small blue house that looked run down with the untamed garden in front of it and the garage's chaos. "I don't hear any shuffling inside it."

"That sounds familiar," Jordan stated and Cara snorted.

"The door is opened and there's no car in the opened garage, indicating that the person left in a hurry. So there aren't any zombies inside, there's not even one remotely near us to get you. And I'll come with you now," she started explaining, but then gave up and decided to go with her for safety measures.

"I don't need a guard dog in front of the bathroom sitting and watching out," Jordan smirked and Cara rolled her eyes at the insult.

She wasn't a guard dog.

"I'm a guardian angel in the form of a vampire," she said with a raised chin before exiting the car, making the witch climb out as well.

"Sure. Whatever makes you sleep at night." With that they went into the house and made sure it wasn't inhibited by zombies. Which it wasn't. She made sure the doors were closed behind them as she took a look behind the house, for extra measures. She knew it was overdoing it, but she hasn't heard anything in the previous house they walked in and it still had three zombies inside.

She could take an hour to look for weapons in the town, maybe finally find an antique shop that they haven't come across the town before. Or the one before that one. They needed useful weapons and not a few knives, an aluminum bat and riffles plus ammo.

She then went back inside at the same time she saw Jordan exit the bathroom. The redhead raised a brow at seeing the vampire go so still.

"There's no zombie behind your back, if you're wondering that," Cara smirked and the witch tried discretely checking for it being true. Last time had been a close call. "Though I've wondered playing a prank on you that one was indeed behind you, but I think you would've exploded my head for that."

Jordan rolled her eyes and nodded. "You thought right."

"I'll explore the town. Chances are that there's an antique shop," she told Jordan and said person blinked at her, wondering. Cara took note of it and cleared her throat awkwardly. She hasn't brought up why she wanted to find one. "I hope to find some useful weapons there."

"What would an antique shop have that a house doesn't? Except a rusty sword or knives." Cara gave her a glare and the witch just shrugged. It didn't make sense to look there for a weapon. She wasn't even sure what the vampire was searching for. More riffles, firearms or guns? Or axes, chainsaws, scythes…There were too many weapons she could think of, but not many could be found anywhere.

"A katana. A long one-sided blade the samurai have used in Japan in its feudal era. Or a shorter version which is called a wakizashi. They used it in buildings where there were no katanas allowed in, or for committing seppuku."

"What's seppuku?" Jordan's brows knit together and Cara almost smiled at the confusion on her face, but the thing she asked about wasn't that funny. Not in the world that they were currently in. Where killing oneself almost seemed reasonable since who wanted to travel from town to town and live while always fearing something. Either the walking corpses that weren't vampires, or the actual living.

"Suicide."

The short silence afterwards was worrisome. It was a word neither of them wasn't thinking about. Even if they've thought about it just once.

"It'd be useful and I can't think of any other places than an antique store having them." Jordan nodded at the unneeded clarification. "You should stay here, maybe lock yourself in the bathroom for good measures." That's when the vampire came very close to getting Jordan inflict pain upon her. She turned to play with her ring, looking thoughtful while she tried to come up with a reason to disagree to what was coming at her.

"I don't want to always stay behind. Or walk closely behind you. I need to learn how to handle these situations. In case, I'll just blow the zombies' heads up and take care of the rest. I doubt you'd get us in the middle of a hundred zombies," she said back, defiantly. Almost like she was asking for trouble. For a challenge. But Cara knew it was what she has said a while ago. Jordan wanted to finally face her fear of something getting dangerous for her. But it nearly scared her how quickly the witch wanted to face her fears. It could bring both of them in danger if not handled the right way.

Sighing, Cara nodded at Jordan's request. Or almost order. That didn't sit well with the vampire, but she pushed it off her mind. Jordan was eager as a child to face her fears. And the eagerness would make Jordan leave the safe house they were in, just to face a zombie or two. But then Cara wouldn't be by her side, helping her. She just knew the witch would try going after her. So it was better to just take her with her.

"Alright, but remember I warned you."

With that she made Jordan climb onto her back and they were off into the town. She stopped running every few distances to make sure Jordan was safely on her back, no zombies too close and searching for an antique store.

"Gary's Antique Store," Jordan read out when they stopped. With that the witch pointed at a small brown building with the entrance tightly closed by having hammered it close. Cara almost growled. That old fart called Gary should've realized no zombie would be going after his stuff. And that he'd be dead by then when the living started searching for supplies. Which they wouldn't really search for in an antique shop.

"Do we try the backside for a door, or do I just break down the front?" she asked Jordan and she should've guessed the witch rather preferred breaking things down. The first option was safest since it wouldn't bring attention to them.

"Front," and with that she sped up to the store, placed Jordan down and under a minute of trying, broken into the store. Her ears picked up zombies nearby having also heard the little commotion and she quickly grabbed Jordan and entered the store. She didn't hear a zombie being inside, so she quickly took in the shop. A big wardrobe that could perfectly block the entrance stood near them and she turned to Jordan.

"Get out of the way, I'll get the wardrobe to block the door just in case zombies come here." The witch nodded and watched as Cara moved the wardrobe in front of the door.

She wondered how much the vampire had on her mind. Because it was astonishing of the things the brunette came up with in a short time span. And that's when she felt the stab of uselessness in her heart.

The vampire always took care of both of them, always planning ahead. Or just on the spot thinking that always came in useful. And then she thought of how much she had helped up till now. Nothing. Other than getting into a market and almost getting bitten because she hadn't taken enough time to properly check that there were no zombies. And she had acted so confident and full of herself. It was embarrassing for her to realize she was worth nothing. Her powers wouldn't stop the zombies, other than strengthening the pain they should've felt like vampires and normal humans so much that their heads exploded.

"Now let's take a better look around here," she heard Cara say with an almost excited pitch in her voice.

"You've liked antique furniture before the world went to hell?" the witch asked curiously and Cara nodded. She had really liked all the things from her past and it turned quite into a big collection after seven hundred years of living.

"You forget I'm seven hundred years old. These things here aren't even half my age old," she joked with a light tone and heard Jordan snort in amusement. She then continued on her search and finally finding something usable. In an almost hidden corner of the store were two shelves full of weapons. Mostly those from the Medieval Age in Europe. But her eyes only rested on the wakizashi with its scabbard placed next to it.

"Found it," she murmured to Jordan as she distinctly heard that the zombies were quite near the entrance, though not yet reached it. "And stay quiet." She quickly added to the witch in a whisper as she was near enough to hear.

The redhead's eyes widened and she mouthed 'zombies' questioningly to Cara, who only nodded in reply.

Her eyes also found an exhibition of farm tools, where two sickles and a machete almost gave off excited glints. As if they have been waiting to be finally picked up. After she took the wakizashi and its scabbard, she sheathed it inside, to make sure it won't cut her or Jordan. She placed the weapon to her side for it wouldn't give her too many problems when moving. Then she took the two sickles and the machete.

She gave one sickle to Jordan and watched her examine it before they were interrupted by groans and slamming sounds by the entrance. "Backdoor," she muttered just loud enough for Jordan to still understand and they moved to where she speculated the door was. But they just got into a backroom with stairs going up. Probably where that Gary had lived.

"Nothing can go right these days."


End file.
